Goose Island Beer Co. and BBC14

Founded in Chicago in 1988, Goose Island is one of the most successful craft breweries in the Midwest. Goose Island is excited to bring their Midwest story and many popular, and award winning, beers to the 2014 Beer Bloggers Conference in San Diego.

In the Beginning with Founder, John Hall

John Hall credits an article on boutique beers in an in-flight magazine in the late ’80′s with giving him the idea of turning his lifelong passion for beer into a business reality. He took a tour across Europe after getting the beer bug and, pint by pint, savored the styles and selections of brews in every region.

Craft brewing wasn’t widely known at the time, but upon return from his European sojourn, John set out to change all that. He settled down in his hometown of Chicago—a city perfect for craft beer, with rapidly evolving tastes and the largest system of fresh water on the planet. And then he got to brewing.

First he made some stellar beer. Then he invited his consumers in to watch his process at the brewery, bringing them behind the scenes every step of the way. The result was a new fascination with craft brewing, and beer that not only catered to people’s tastes, but challenged them as well.

That was back in 1988, and we haven’t slowed down since. By 1995, John’s beer had become so popular that he decided to open a larger brewery, along with a bottling plant to keep up with demand. 1999 brought even more growth, along with an additional brewpub, and today, what was once one man’s pint-filled dream has become the Goose Island story of today.

Goose Island Brewmaster, Brett Porter, who came to the brewery after many years of leading brewing teams in Oregon, relays Goose Island has allowed him to focus on creativity and innovation.

Goose Island has somehow retained an approach to beer that you often only find at brewpubs…an ultimate respect for the craft of brewing. John Hall is always encouraging brewers to first do what is best for the beer. It is the kind of environment where a brewer can focus on the craft and be creative to explore

Make sure during your time at the Beer Bloggers Conference to try the Goose Island beers we are bringing specifically for the bloggers, two of which utilize the bourbon-aged barrel process, which we pioneered!

For more information on the Goose Island Beer Co. story and the bourbon-aged barrel process, check out these video links. And if you have any other inquiries, please don’t hesitate to give us a shout out:

Contact:

Ana Serafin

Communications Manager

Goose Island Beer Company

Ana.serafin@gooseisland.com

We look forward to sharing the Goose Island story with everyone at #BBC14!